The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South edged down 0.3 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The decrease was contributed to a 5.6-percent decline in the energy index. In contrast, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in December. The food index continued to increase, up 0.3 percent over the month. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U for the South advanced 7.0 percent for the 12 months ending in December, after increasing 7.7-percent for the 12-month period ending in November. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.5 percent over the past year. The food index and the energy index also increased over the last 12 months, up 10.8 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.3 percent in December, reflecting increases in the food at home (+0.3 percent) and food away from home (+0.4 percent) indexes.

The food index advanced 10.8 percent for the 12 months ending in December. The food at home index rose 12.6-percent over the past year as all six major grocery store food group indexes increased. The food away from home index rose 8.2 percent over the past year.

Energy

The energy index declined 5.6 percent in December, led by a 10.8-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The electricity index also declined in December, down 0.3 percent, while the natural gas index increased 2.0 percent over the month.  

The energy index rose 5.8 percent for the 12 months ending in December. Increases were noted for electricity (+15.7 percent) and natural gas (+19.4 percent). The index for gasoline declined 4.1 percent over the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in December, primarily reflecting a 0.8-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.8 percent over the month and rent of primary residence rose 0.9 percent. Several indexes declined in December, most notable include used cars and trucks (-2.4 percent) and apparel (-2.0 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.5 percent for the 12 months ending in December, after increasing 6.9 percent over the 12-month period ending in November. Several components contributed to the 12-month increase, most notably, shelter (+9.6 percent). Within shelter, owner’s equivalent rent increased 9.4 percent over the past year and rent of primary residence rose 11.4 percent.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In December, the all items index declined 0.4 percent in the West South Central division and 0.3 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all-items index was unchanged in the East South Central division in December.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.3 percent in the South Atlantic division, 6.7 percent in the West South Central division, and 6.5 percent in the East South Central division.

Table A. South region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3	0.5	1.6	0.9	7.8
February	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0	1.1	8.4
March	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9	1.4	9.1
April	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4	0.5	8.8
May	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6	1.2	9.2
June	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.9	5.8	1.5	9.8
July	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8	0.1	9.4
August	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6	-0.2	8.9
September	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3	0.3	5.8	0.2	8.7
October	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3	1.0	6.6	0.4	8.1
November	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2	0.4	7.2	0.1	7.7
December	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4	0.3	7.4	-0.3	7.0

The Consumer Price Index for January 2023 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The South region is comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods
South (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	288.836	288.991	288.205	7.0	-0.2	-0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	468.533	468.784	467.509	-	-	-
Food and beverages	307.885	308.552	309.645	10.5	0.6	0.4
Food	311.524	312.103	313.189	10.8	0.5	0.3
Food at home	296.644	296.475	297.461	12.6	0.3	0.3
Cereal and bakery products	348.943	351.167	353.339	16.5	1.3	0.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	314.999	313.744	315.797	8.9	0.3	0.7
Dairy and related products	270.634	272.000	272.771	15.2	0.8	0.3
Fruits and vegetables	331.867	328.955	329.676	8.0	-0.7	0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	207.179	207.394	209.448	16.2	1.1	1.0
Other food at home	263.482	263.844	263.095	14.3	-0.1	-0.3
Food away from home	335.110	337.045	338.303	8.2	1.0	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	257.323	259.209	260.396	5.2	1.2	0.5
Housing	287.255	288.299	290.077	9.8	1.0	0.6
Shelter	328.859	331.346	334.068	9.6	1.6	0.8
Rent of primary residence	350.275	354.198	357.390	11.4	2.0	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	330.657	333.504	336.311	9.4	1.7	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	330.655	333.502	336.307	9.4	1.7	0.8
Fuels and utilities	297.757	294.137	294.225	13.3	-1.2	0.0
Household energy	247.374	242.953	242.684	16.3	-1.9	-0.1
Energy services	246.776	241.976	242.121	16.3	-1.9	0.1
Electricity	237.971	233.860	233.177	15.7	-2.0	-0.3
Utility (piped) gas service	284.825	275.896	281.445	19.4	-1.2	2.0
Household furnishings and operations	147.092	146.301	146.112	7.9	-0.7	-0.1
Apparel	139.069	136.937	134.195	2.6	-3.5	-2.0
Transportation	266.021	264.141	256.321	3.2	-3.6	-3.0
Private transportation	267.237	265.426	257.730	2.5	-3.6	-2.9
New and used motor vehicles(2)	130.888	129.407	127.916	-0.8	-2.3	-1.2
New vehicles	184.452	184.487	184.377	6.3	0.0	-0.1
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	183.754	183.637	183.167	6.2	-0.3	-0.3
Used cars and trucks	199.567	193.923	189.268	-9.1	-5.2	-2.4
Motor fuel	298.069	293.137	261.605	-3.4	-12.2	-10.8
Gasoline (all types)	294.628	289.427	258.204	-4.1	-12.4	-10.8
Unleaded regular(3)	288.047	282.884	251.615	-4.4	-12.6	-11.1
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	327.675	322.168	291.528	-2.7	-11.0	-9.5
Unleaded premium(3)	318.166	313.261	286.202	-1.8	-10.0	-8.6
Medical care	524.379	520.021	521.499	3.6	-0.5	0.3
Medical care commodities	368.319	366.460	366.500	3.4	-0.5	0.0
Medical care services	577.223	572.000	573.981	3.7	-0.6	0.3
Professional services	394.829	393.899	393.046	1.8	-0.5	-0.2
Recreation(2)	132.171	133.642	133.207	5.9	0.8	-0.3
Education and communication(2)	138.796	139.614	139.993	0.1	0.9	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,438.622	1,441.796	1,445.669	3.3	0.5	0.3
Other goods and services	492.794	498.593	501.130	7.4	1.7	0.5
Commodity and service group
All Items	288.836	288.991	288.205	7.0	-0.2	-0.3
Commodities	220.976	219.757	216.564	4.5	-2.0	-1.5
Commodities less food and beverages	180.774	179.006	174.589	1.2	-3.4	-2.5
Nondurables less food and beverages	232.992	231.117	221.466	3.0	-4.9	-4.2
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	289.515	287.690	274.193	3.1	-5.3	-4.7
Durables	131.715	130.217	129.056	-0.3	-2.0	-0.9
Services	356.783	358.390	360.160	8.7	0.9	0.5
Rent of shelter(1)	338.502	341.089	343.942	9.7	1.6	0.8
Transportation services	423.338	426.943	425.474	16.0	0.5	-0.3
Other services	375.427	380.883	381.283	3.9	1.6	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	275.842	276.223	275.326	7.4	-0.2	-0.3
All items less food	285.161	285.256	284.207	6.5	-0.3	-0.4
All items less shelter	274.428	273.664	271.490	5.9	-1.1	-0.8
Commodities less food	183.246	181.549	177.231	1.4	-3.3	-2.4
Nondurables	268.349	267.660	263.021	7.0	-2.0	-1.7
Nondurables less food	234.022	232.358	223.322	3.2	-4.6	-3.9
Nondurables less food and apparel	285.250	283.741	271.532	3.3	-4.8	-4.3
Services less rent of shelter(1)	391.011	391.418	391.864	7.7	0.2	0.1
Services less medical care services	336.753	338.880	340.619	9.5	1.1	0.5
Energy	265.570	261.005	246.435	5.8	-7.2	-5.6
All items less energy	292.840	293.470	294.063	7.1	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	290.228	290.867	291.382	6.5	0.4	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	169.777	168.405	167.175	2.2	-1.5	-0.7
Energy commodities	303.767	299.166	267.290	-3.0	-12.0	-10.7
Services less energy services	368.475	370.754	372.695	8.3	1.1	0.5
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available. Regions defined as the four Census regions. South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.